Motor vehicle door

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door with a door inner shell and a door outer shell joined thereto. A large-area opening in the door inner shell can be covered in a sealed manner by a supporting plate by means of a sealing area, and with a channel seal, which forms the upper termination of the inner parapet area. The motor vehicle door is characterized in that the upper edge of the supporting plate supports the channel seal. The ends of the channel seal are connected to lateral sealing areas of the supporting plate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a National Phase Patent Application of InternationalApplication Number PCT/DE01/04035, filed on Oct. 22, 2001, which claimspriority of German Patent Application Number 100 52 739.6, filed Oct.25, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door. More particularly, theinvention relates to a motor vehicle door having a wet/dry spaceseparation in which the wet space on the side of the door outer shell isseparated from the dry space on the side of the door inside trim.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Vehicle doors of the generic type are known from DE 94 08 653 U1, DE19509282 A1, DE 195 11 105 C1, DE 196 22 310 A1, DE 197 38 656 A1, DE199 15 151 A1, DE 199 44 965 A1 and EP 0 684 157 A1. The door innershells have an “assembly” opening of large area which can be closed by asupport plate fitted with function elements. The opening may beadvantageously utilized during assembly processes. In order to achievean effective sealing contact—even in the event of pressure differencesbetween the wet and dry spaces—a circumferential sealing cord isprovided which extends along the edge of the opening in the door innershell. A door structure of this kind enables pre-assembly andpre-checking of the function elements (e.g. window lifter, lock controlelectronics, electric connectors, etc.) before these are inserted withthe support plate into the door body. By mounting the function elementson the dry space side it is possible to omit expensive damp protection.An inner channel seal which is to prevent moisture from penetrating intothe interior passenger compartment, extends at a comparatively shortdistance from the upper substantially horizontally aligned sealing areabetween the support plate and door inner shell.

A channel seal having an integrated reinforcement element for the ledgearea is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,448. The disclosedreinforcement element has a clip-like fixing area which is engagedsurrounding the upper end of the door inner shell. On the wet space sideof the door inner shell the sheet metal plate of the reinforcementelement continues down into an inverted area in order to finish in aclosed profile. An adjoining arm supports the sealing lips of thechannel seal facing the inside of the window pane.

Other vehicle doors with various sealing arrangements are also known. Itwould be desirable to provide a motor vehicle door with a configurationand channel seal that meets wet/dry space separation requirements withreduced sealing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a vehicle door having a door inner shell,a door outer shell connected thereto and a large area assembly openingin the door inner shell which can be sealingly covered by a supportplate fitted with function elements whereby the high demands on thewet/dry space separation are met with reduced sealing costs.

The present invention achieves this objective by providing a channelseal forming the upper closure of an inner ledge area that is supportedby an upper edge of the support plate whereby the ends of the channelseal are connected to the side sealing areas of the support plate. Thisproduces a closed uninterrupted sealing contour. The upper sealing areaformed by the channel seal thus forms a seal between the door innershell and the support plate. In one embodiment, the channel seal caninclude a clip-like fixing area with a metal insert that is engaged withand surrounds the upper edge area of the support plate and has alaterally protruding area which supports the sealing lips associatedwith the inside of the window pane.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the invention provides thatthe door inner shell has in the ledge area, the overall shaftreinforcement on the inside and the upper contour of the support plateextends substantially along the upper contour of the ledge area of thedoor inner shell. The channel seal thereby engages and covers both theupper edge of the support plate and also the upper edge of the doorinner shell.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the invention provides thedoor inner shell having, in the ledge area, an upper part of the insideshaft reinforcement, and the support plate has a lower part of theinside shaft reinforcement. In this case the upper edges of the supportplate and door inner shell form a common closure which is engaged by thefixing areas of the channel seal. In the reverse case in which the doorinner shell forms in the ledge area the lower part of the inside shaftreinforcement and the support plate forms the upper part of the insideshaft reinforcement, the channel seal may be connected solely to theupper contour of the support plate. This type of fixing for the channelseal is in any case necessary if the support plate in the ledge areaforms the entire internal shaft reinforcement.

The channel seal may include a bead which serves to hang the door insidetrim panel above its fixing area.

The sealing areas between the support plate and the associated lateraledge areas and the lower edge area of the opening in the door innershell can be formed by a continuous sealing element, e.g. in the form ofan injection-moulded or stuck-on sealing cord. A further possibility forforming the sealing areas consists of causing an elastic sealing foil toadhere onto the support plate, more particularly in the form of a foamedfoil.

The support plates can be manufactured simply as stamped parts of sheetsteel or of another sheet metal material, whereby the shaftreinforcement can be formed where necessary by stamping and/or bendingprocesses. An even higher degree of integration can be achieved with asupport plate in the form of a light metal cast part. In thisembodiment, bearing sites or fixing elements can also be formed withouthaving to make an opening which penetrates through the wet/dry spaceseparation.

In another exemplary embodiment, the support plate may be formed ofinjected plastic. When using a support plate in the form of a plasticsinjected part using multi-component technology, the channel seal may beformed by means of sufficiently flexible plastics components which areintegrated into the support plate in one piece. Furthermore theremaining sealing areas provided on the support plate (the lower and theside sealing areas between the support plate and the associated edgeareas of the opening in the door inner shell) can also be integrated inone piece into the support plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be explained with reference to embodiments shownin the drawings in which:

FIG. 1a shows a diagrammatic view of an exemplary door inner shell,support plate and inside channel seal of the present invention, in anexploded view;

FIG. 1b shows a diagrammatic view of the parts shown in FIG. 1a, afterassembly;

FIG. 1c shows a diagrammatic view of the assembled parts shown in FIG.1a, from the side of the support plate;

FIG. 1d shows a diagrammatic end view of the assembled parts shown inFIG. 1a;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of thevehicle door of the present invention, through the large area opening inthe door inner shell;

FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic exploded view of an exemplary door innershell of the present invention, having a ledge reinforcement whichextends into the area of the channel seal;

FIG. 4 shows a diagrammatic exploded view of an exemplary door innershell of the present invention, having a ledge reinforcement which doesnot reach into the area of the channel seal;

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic exploded view of an exemplary door innershell of the present invention without any ledge reinforcement; and

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an exemplary motor vehicle door ofthe present invention having a frame module, which can be inserted fromabove into the door box formed from the door inner shell and the doorouter shell.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Provided is a new door concept according to which the upper edge 200 ofthe support plate 2, 2′, 2″ that covers the assembly opening 111provided in the door inner shell 1, 1′, 1″, supports the channel seal 3.This enables reduced sealing costs when compared to known door conceptswith a so-called wet/dry space separation because the channel seal 3also seals the support plate 2, 2′, 2″ together to the door inner shell1, 1′, 1″. A conventional sealing strip which is otherwise necessary inthis area is therefore not needed. Material and production costs canthereby be saved. Furthermore, the raised contour (i.e. upper edge) ofthe support plate additionally provides an enlarged assembly surface fordiverse pre-assembled function units if the ledge area of the door innershell is made narrower towards the top or is completely replaced by aledge reinforcement integrated in the support plate.

The door concept is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1a to 1 d which showa door inner shell 1 which may be a light metal cast part (e.g. ofaluminium or magnesium alloy) or a sheet metal or injected plastic partin various exemplary embodiments. FIGS. 1a and 1 b show the door innershell 1 from the side of the door inner shell. The door inner shellconsists substantially of an inner wall facing the passenger compartmentand having a large area assembly opening 111 therethrough. By assemblyopening, it is meant that this opening may be utilized for the assemblyof function elements which may be on support plate 2. In an upperportion, i.e. the ledge area, door inner shell 1 includes a ledgereinforcement 10 with a web-like closure member designated web 100. Thedoor base 13 and the side walls 12 extend out at an angle sideways fromthe inner wall 11 (i.e. generally orthogonal to inner wall 11) and maybe fitted with the door hinges (not shown) and the lock. The inside wall11 is associated with a support plate 2 which can completely cover theopening 111 and which supports a seal 20 a and 20 b which extend alongthe side edges and the lower edge, respectively, of support plate 2 toform a lower sealing area and side sealing areas between the supportplate 2 and door inner shell 1. The side edges and seal 20 a end on theupper edge of the support plate 1 in an end area 20 aa associated withthe channel seal 3. The door inner shell 1 is joined to support plate 2as shown in FIGS. 1b-1 d. The connection between the door inner shell 1and the support plate 2 is through screws or rivets through the fixingopenings 21, 110 shown in FIG. 1c, but other means for fastening may beused in other exemplary embodiments.

The inner channel seal 3 includes a U-shaped fixing area that can befitted onto the product of the combination of door inner shell 1 andsupport plate 2. U-shaped fixing area 30 thereby engages the upper edges100, 200 of the door inner shell 1 and support plate 2, respectively, bysurrounding them (see FIG. 1d) whereby the inner base surface of theU-shaped fixing area 30 enters into contact with the end areas 20 aa ofthe side sealing areas 20 a of the support plate and thus forms a closedseal which meets the demands required for the wet/dry space separation.

The section of the ledge area of a vehicle door shown in FIG. 2corresponds to the door concept according to FIGS. 1a-1 d and shows—inaddition to further details of the inner channel seal 3—also the outerchannel seal 6 which is supported by an end area formed by the doorouter shell 5 and the outer ledge reinforcement 50 flanged therewith.The fixing area 60 of the channel seal 6 has a U-shaped metal clip 600which produces the necessary holding forces. Two molded sealing lips 61,62 serve to bear against the outer surface of the window pane 7.

The inner channel seal 3 likewise has in the fixing area 30 a metal clip300 shaped so that the one end area of the metal clip 600 can alsosupport the sealing lip 31 which is provided to bear against the innersurface of the window pane 7. Furthermore at the base of thesubstantially U-shaped fixing area 30 there is a projection 32 whichserves for mounting the end 40 of the door inner trim panel 4. In theinside of the fixing area 30, a sealing material is shaped into sealinglips 301 which adjoin and surround the upper edges 100, 200 of the doorinner shell 1′ and support plate 2′.

The exemplary door shown in FIG. 3 includes a door inner shell 1 with areduced inner ledge reinforcement which closes at the top with the web100. Web 100 is supported from beneath by a ledge reinforcement 210which is connected to the support plate 2 and which is insertable by itsends projecting over the side edges of the support plate 2 into thechannel-like recess 120 of the door inner shell 1. The side sealing area20 a thereby also extends over the ledge reinforcement 210 and ends atthe side end edge 200 of the support plate 2 so that after fitting thechannel seal 3 it is ensured that the latter connects with the seal 20a, 20 aa of the support plate 2. The channel seal 3 engages similar tothe embodiments described in FIGS. 1a to 2 with its fixing area 30adjoining and surrounding the upper edges of the door inner shell 1 andthe support plate 2.

In another exemplary embodiment, FIG. 4 shows a door with a ledgereinforcement 220 which is mounted on the support plate 2 and which isinserted by its outer end faces 220 a between the inner end faces 10 aof the side struts 11, 12. Underneath this ledge reinforcement 220 is aledge reinforcement 10′ which connects the struts 11, 12 of the doorinner shell 1. In the present case the upper contour 200 of the supportplate 2 projects over all areas of the door inner shell 1 and thereforesupports the channel seal 3. Thus, pre-assembly of the channel seal 3 onthe support plate 2 is fundamentally possible prior to assembling thedoor.

The exemplary door illustrated in FIG. 5 differs from that according toFIG. 4 basically only in that the door inner shell 1 has no ledgereinforcement such as ledge reinforcement 10′ shown in FIG. 4, and thatthe ledge reinforcement 230 of the support plate 2 extends over theentire width of the support plate 2. Ledge reinforcement 230 issubstantially completely on the support plate 2. Even in this case theupper contour 200 of the support plate 2 forms the closure for thewet/dry space separation and supports the channel seal 3.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a motor vehicle door with a framemodule according to the exemplary door shown in FIG. 5. The door body isformed by a door box which is formed from the door outer shell 5″ andthe door inner shell 1″ and is open to the top so that the frame modulecan be inserted and fitted therein. The window frame 9 and the supportplate 2″ are connected together through joining members 90, 91 wherebythe joining members 90, 91 serve to adjust the frame 9 relative to thedoor box 1″, 5″ and for assembly. Fixing spots 21, 110 are providedalong the sealing area 130 to connect the support plate 2″ to the insidewall 11″ of the door inner shell 1″.

The ledge area of the door is formed by a tubular ledge reinforcement240 which is connected through bolt like pins to the joining members 90,91. The support plate 2″ is fixed thereon, with its upper region beingadapted to the desired contour of the ledge and enclosing the ledgereinforcement 240 in part. The closing upper contour 200″ of the supportplate 2″ is formed by an upwardly angled edge area which supports theinner channel seal 3 (not shown).

The support plate 2″ forms with its pre-fitted function units one unitcapable of being pre-checked so that high quality standards can be met.Such function units can be for example an arm rest (80), switch unit(81) for controlling the electrically driven window lifters or mirrors,a drive unit (83) for a window lifter, a door inside opener (82), aspeaker (84) or a wiring harness. Arranging the function units on thedry space side of the door arrangement enables considerable savings tobe made by avoiding wet space designs which would otherwise benecessary.

What is claimed is:
 1. A motor vehicle door comprising a door innershell and a door outer shell connected thereto, a support platesealingly covering an opening formed through the door inner shell at asealing area including a lower sealing area and side sealing areas, anda channel seal forming an upper closure in a ledge area, supported by anupper edge of the support plate and having opposed ends each connectedto a respective one of the side sealing areas of the support plate. 2.The motor vehicle door according to claim 1, further comprising the doorinner shell having a ledge reinforcement in the ledge area.
 3. The motorvehicle door according to claim 1, further comprising a ledgereinforcement, wherein the door inner shell has in the ledge area one ofan upper part of the ledge reinforcement and a lower part of the ledgereinforcement and the support plate has the other one of the upper partof the ledge reinforcement and the lower part of the ledgereinforcement.
 4. The motor vehicle door according to claim 2 or 3,wherein the upper edge of the support plate extends substantially alongan upper edge of the door inner shell and the channel seal extendsaround the respective upper edges of the support plate and the doorinner shell.
 5. The motor vehicle door according to claim 1, furthercomprising a ledge reinforcement formed completely on the support platein the ledge area.
 6. The motor vehicle door according to claim 1,wherein the channel seal has a metal spring-elastic clip as a fixingelement.
 7. The motor vehicle door according to claim 1, wherein thechannel seal includes a projection for mounting a door inside trim panelthereover, the projection extending above a fixing area of the channelseal.
 8. The motor vehicle door according to claim 1, wherein the lowersealing area and the side sealing areas are formed between the supportplate and the associated edge areas of the opening of the door innershell, the lower sealing area and side sealing areas formed by acontinuous sealing element.
 9. The motor vehicle door according to claim1, wherein the lower sealing area and the side sealing areas are formedbetween the support plate and the associated edge areas of the openingof the door inside shell, the lower sealing area and side sealing areasformed by an elastic sealing foil lining that lines the support plate.10. The motor vehicle door according to claim 1, wherein the supportplate and the channel seal are an integral injection molded part formedof two components, and the channel seal is formed by a softer plasticscomponent than the support plate.
 11. The motor vehicle door accordingto claim 1, wherein the lower sealing area and the side sealing areasare disposed between the support plate and the associated edge areas ofthe opening in the door inner shell and are formed of a single integralpiece of the support plate.
 12. The motor vehicle door according toclaim 1, wherein the support plate is a light metal cast part formed ofaluminium or a magnesium alloy.
 13. The motor vehicle door according toclaim 1, wherein the support plate is a sheet metal part.
 14. The motorvehicle door according to claim 8, wherein the continuous sealingelement is one of an injection-molded sealing cord and a stock-onsealing cord.
 15. The motor vehicle door according to claim 9, whereinthe elastic sealing foil is a foamed foil.
 16. The motor vehicle dooraccording to claim 15, wherein the sheet metal part is a stamped metalpart.